Newsom praises California redistricting package as chance to ‘fight back’ against Republican gerrymandering
Governor Gavin Newsom praised California lawmakers for introducing a legislative package that, if passed, would allow Californians to respond to actions taken by president Donald Trump in Texas and other Republican-led states.
California Democrats introduced the legislation on Monday as part of an effort to counter a Republican redistricting proposal by creating new congressional maps in California.
The plan, led by Newsom, would put redistricting before voters in a special election this fall. It would allow the legislature to bypass California’s independent redistricting commission and redraw congressional lines mid-decade. The package includes a proposed state constitutional amendment and calls for a special election on 4 November.
“California and Californians have been uniquely targeted by the Trump administration, and we are not going to sit idle while they command Texas and other states to rig the next election to keep power – pursuing more extreme and unpopular policies,” Newsom said in a statement.
“This proposal would give Californians a choice to fight back – and bring much needed accountability and oversight to the Trump administration.”
Key events
Closing summary
Our live coverage is ending now – we’ll be back on Tuesday. In the meantime, you can find all of our live US politics coverage here.
Here’s a summary of the key developments from today:
-
Donald Trump has ruled out a ceasefire in Ukraine as Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies visited the White House to push for US-backed security guarantees as part of any long-term peace deal. The US president, who only last week warned Russia of “very severe consequences” if Vladimir Putin failed to agree to a halt to the fighting, made clear on Monday he had reversed his position. More here.
-
Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey announced Monday that he will step down to become co-deputy director of the FBI. Bailey will share the role with deputy director Dan Bongino, as the FBI continues to draw headlines over the ongoing case tied to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bailey said his last day in office will be 8 September. Missouri governor Mike Kehoe will announce his appointment for Bailey’s replacement on Tuesday.
-
Donald Trump on Monday announced that lawyers are drafting an executive order to eliminate mail-in voting, days after Vladimir Putin told him US elections were rigged because of postal ballots. In a White House meeting alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump said: “We’re going to start with an executive order that’s being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail in ballots because they’re corrupt.” More here.
-
Texas Democrats returned to their state on Monday as California lawmakers convened in the state capitol to kick off a rapid push to get voters to approve a new congressional map that could add as many as five Democratic seats in the US House. The California effort is in response to Texas’s push to redraw the congressional map there to add five Republican seats. On Friday, Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, called a second special session after Democrats remained out of the state for two weeks, denying Republicans a quorum to conduct legislative business. Here’s the full story.
-
In light of these efforts, governor Gavin Newsom applauded California Democrats introducing the legislation as part of an effort to counter a Republican redistricting proposal by creating new congressional maps in California. The plan, led by Newsom, would put redistricting before voters in a special election this fall. It would allow the legislature to bypass California’s independent redistricting commission and redraw congressional lines mid-decade.
The state department said on Monday that the American government played no role in the release of an Israeli official charged with soliciting sex electronically from a minor.
Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was one of eight people charged last week following an undercover operation “targeting child sex predators,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued last week.
According to Reuters, Alexandrovich faces a felony charge of luring or attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person to commit a sex act “with use of computer technology.”
Israeli media said on Thursday that Alexandrovich, who they described as a senior department head in Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, was released by US authorities and is back in Israel.
The report that an Israeli official accused of a felony sex crime was allowed to return home drew a storm of speculation online.
Alexandrovich “did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a state judge pending a court date. Any claims that the U.S. government intervened are false,” the state department said via a post on X.
Texas lawmaker Collier refuses to comply with ‘demeaning’ abuse of power
I spoke with Texas state representative Nicole Collier about her decision to remain inside the House chamber rather than comply with new GOP-imposed requirements that Democrats sign “permission slips” authorizing an around-the-clock law escort by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Collier said she refused to comply because the measure was both “demeaning” and an abuse of power.
“I refuse to be followed by DPS,” Collier said. “I refuse to take them off the beat of looking for criminals, looking for pedophiles and human traffickers. That’s where they need to be. And I’ve just had enough of them bullying us, telling us what to do.”
She said that requiring lawmakers to sign these documents goes beyond normal procedure. “For them to require us to sign papers, it goes too far in terms of respect and dignity,” Collier told me. “It’s demeaning to me as a person, as a human being.”
Her message to voters from inside the chamber was to resist and participate. “If there’s something that you don’t agree with in your government, you have to resist,” said the state representative from Fort Worth.
I asked how she’s holding up inside the chamber, and how she plans to manage until the Texas House reconvenes on Wednesday.
“I’m grateful for my Democratic colleagues who have come to provide refreshment and nourishment for me,” Collier said. “But I hadn’t thought it through. I’m not worried about that. I’m more worried about my voters, Black and Brown Texans, communities of color and marginalized communities whose rights are being ripped away right in front of our face.”
Missouri attorney general announces he will serve as co-deputy director of FBI
Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey announced Monday that he will step down to become co-deputy director of the FBI.
“I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Co-Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Bailey said in a statement. “I extend my deepest gratitude to President Trump and U.S. Attorney General Bondi for the privilege to join in their stated mission to Make America Safe Again”.
Bailey will share the role with deputy director Dan Bongino, as the FBI continues to draw headlines over the ongoing case tied to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Bailey said his last day in office will be 8 September. Missouri governor Mike Kehoe will announce his appointment for Bailey’s replacement on Tuesday.
Washington has been informed about the intent for the national guard to be armed, though it has not received details about when that could happen or where armed guard members could be deployed in DC, the Associated Press reports.
The move would be a departure from what the Pentagon and army have said about the troops being unarmed. The army said in a statement last week that “weapons are available if needed but will remain in the armory”. Today, the Department of Defense issued the same statement.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson also said last week that troops won’t be armed.
In response to questions from the AP about whether guard members in Washington would be armed in the coming days, the District of Columbia national guard said troops “may be armed consistent with their mission and training”.
The Louisiana national guard said in a statement released on Monday that it was sending 135 members to Washington DC to “protect federal buildings, national monuments and other federal properties”.
“We are a nation of law and order,” governor Jeff Landry said in a post on X. “Our capital is a reflection of our nation’s respect, beauty, and standards.”
“We cannot allow our cities to be overcome by violence and lawlessness,” Landry added.
The announcement comes after Donald Trump mobilized some 800 District of Columbia national guard members to the nation’s capital, which he claims is necessary to get crime under control. Trump has also taken over DC’s Metropolitan police department.
According to the justice department, violent crime hit a 30-year low in DC last year.
The US air force chief of staff announced on Monday that he planned to retire in the coming months, according to a statement, but did not provide a reason.
Gen David Allvin will have served just two years out of the typical four-year assignment by the time he retires.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve as the 23rd Air Force Chief of Staff and I’m thankful for (Air Force) Secretary Meink, Secretary Hegseth and President Trump’s faith in me to lead our service,” Allvin said.
Allvin said he will retire on or about 1 November.
It was unclear whether Allvin chose to retire or was asked to by Pentagon leaders such as defense secretary Pete Hegseth.
Allvin’s retirement isn’t the first surprise departure at the Pentagon. In April, Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s first chief of staff, unexpectedly left his post after the firing of three senior aides.
Donald Trump called his Monday meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European partners “very good” and said he began arrangements for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy after a subsequent call with Putin.
In a post on Truth Social, he said security guarantees for Ukraine – provided by the European countries with coordination with the US – was discussed during the meeting.
“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump said.
The US president added that Vice President JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff would make arrangements between the two countries.
After Texas Democrats returned to their state following the two-week quorum break, several Texas lawmakers released a joint statement calling their efforts against the state’s gerrymandering plan a “fire of resistance”.
“When Texas House Democrats denied quorum, they lit the match that sparked a national movement”, reads the statement signed by Texas congressmembers Marc Veasey, Lizzie Fletcher, Sylvia Garcia, Al Green, Vicente Gonzalez, Julie Johnson, Veronica Escobar, Joaquin Castro, and Henry Cuellar. “At a time when people saw no way to fight back against Trump and the Republicans’ racial gerrymandering scheme, Texas Democrats sparked the fire of resistance and gave us hope”.
“Make no mistake: Texas was just the opening act”, they added. “Trump and his allies are attempting to dismantle democracy one district at a time, from Florida to Indiana. Texas House Democrats won this battle — it’s on the rest of us to finish what they started”.
Following today’s talks between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X Monday that they were there “as allies and friends, for peace in Ukraine and in Europe”.
“This is an important moment, as we continue to work on strong security guarantees for Ukraine and a lasting and durable peace,” she added.
Attached to the post was a picture of several European leaders, including Von der Leyen, and the US president.
ICYMI: The Guardian’s Luke Harding reports on which European leaders accompanied Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s at the White House today:
European leaders gathered in Washington on Monday for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, in a show of support for the Ukrainian president. Their presence came amid expectations that Trump would try to bully Zelenskyy into accepting a pro-Russia “peace plan” that would include Kyiv handing territory to Moscow. The Europeans have been described as Zelenskyy’s “bodyguards”, with memories fresh of the mauling he received in February during his last Oval Office visit. So, who are they?
Mark Rutte – Secretary general of Nato
Rutte has a proven record of flattering Trump for strategic purposes, using language that some allies find cringe-making. In June he referred to the capricious US president as “Daddy” in an attempt to avoid disastrous outbursts at the Nato summit. Rutte has repeatedly praised Trump in public, including in a recent interview on Fox News, and credits him for pushing Nato members to spend 3.5% of their GDP on defence. The US had carried the burden of European security for too long, Rutte has said – music to Trump’s ears.
Ursula von der Leyen – President of the European Commission
Von der Leyen is a staunch supporter of Ukraine who backs Kyiv’s EU membership. For Trump, she is a reminder of Europe’s combined importance as an economic bloc. The US struck a trade deal with the EU three weeks ago, and Trump hailed the relationship as “the biggest trading partnership in the world”. On Sunday she hosted Zelenskyy in Brussels. She said a post-peace-deal Ukraine had to become “a steel porcupine, indigestible for potential invaders”, with no limits on its armed forces.
Here’s the full story on Zelenskyy’s European “bodyguards”:
Newsom praises California redistricting package as chance to ‘fight back’ against Republican gerrymandering
Governor Gavin Newsom praised California lawmakers for introducing a legislative package that, if passed, would allow Californians to respond to actions taken by president Donald Trump in Texas and other Republican-led states.
California Democrats introduced the legislation on Monday as part of an effort to counter a Republican redistricting proposal by creating new congressional maps in California.
The plan, led by Newsom, would put redistricting before voters in a special election this fall. It would allow the legislature to bypass California’s independent redistricting commission and redraw congressional lines mid-decade. The package includes a proposed state constitutional amendment and calls for a special election on 4 November.
“California and Californians have been uniquely targeted by the Trump administration, and we are not going to sit idle while they command Texas and other states to rig the next election to keep power – pursuing more extreme and unpopular policies,” Newsom said in a statement.
“This proposal would give Californians a choice to fight back – and bring much needed accountability and oversight to the Trump administration.”
